Kitchen Cabinets

[Derek Latimer]

I have attempted to make kitchen cabinets myself, mostly because of the cheap crap that is offered out there as cabinets.

They are completely made of pine and I have routed the doors myself. Again, this is my first time and I am no where near a professional. I have always been interested in woodworking, but this is really my first attempt at any real "project".

The last pic is the breakfast bar that I have added to the kitchen.

All of these have been made with a Kreg jig.

[Steve]

Sharon, I have been making cabinets out of shiplap for my mobile home, the original ones were really bad stuff. I could not find any info on making cabinets out of pine boards, only plywood. Am using a mag for building cabinets out of plywood and improvising to make it work. I have limited tools, a small table saw, circular saw and just upgraded my miter saw to a 12 inch saw. Am planning on making the top cabinets this fall and winter. If I can be of help, let me know.

Steve

Sharon Mobley said:

Awesome Job!  You did a great job for your first try.  I have been working with tools and wood since I was a little girl.  But getting ready to take on our kitchen in our mobile home.   I so hate its cheap cabinets.  Never built full cabinets before so you give me inspiration.  

Sharon 

[Steven Reynolds]

Your bar looks stunning, nice work, you are doing better an some of our local college 2nd year students, its freightening to think they will be qualified carpenters at the end of may.

Keep working with wood m8, I will look forward to seeing more of your work.

Steve (uk)

[Steve]

There is a difference between someone who does woodworking for a hobby out of love of creating beautiful furniture and someone who thinks s/he thinks they can make money doing it.

[Jay Boutwell]

Since this such a broad statement, I certainly would like to hear what the differences are. 
Steve said:

There is a difference between someone who does woodworking for a hobby out of love of creating beautiful furniture and someone who thinks s/he thinks they can make money doing it.

[Jay Boutwell]

How do you class the ones like me? I may do this as a profession but I don't do this as a profession just to make money. My first love in life was law enforcement and once that was done I needed something to do to fill my idle time. I turned to woodworking as a hobby and that hobby turned in to necessity to step it up to a profession. The reason was demand from a group of customers that came to me requesting cabinets and other custom wood working. When this happened there is overhead expenses so you have to pay for overhead. Yes I charge money for my work as a way to pay for my expenses however the amount I charge is not prohibitive for a customer whom requests my services.

In reality there should be no difference between the intent of a hobbyists and a professional in how you perform the working of wood. If there is then you are neither a hobbyists or a professional but fits the term called a "wood butcher".

So being called a professional does not class me into someone who has no thoughts of craftsmanship or intent of making the project sub-standard by taking short cuts just for the sake of making money.

Therefore when a beginner picks up his tools and applies it to wood his thoughts should not be aimed at building a sub-standard project but doing it the best of his knowledge and ability. When a professional picks up his tools and begins a project his intent should be the same and should be actually, in most cases, produce a better product than that of the hobbyists due mainly because of experience and equipment. If this is not the case then the term "wood butcher" comes to mind.

Just something to think about when you begin to put labels on a "professional" and a "hobbyists"

Jay Boutwell said:

Since this such a broad statement, I certainly would like to hear what the differences are. 
Steve said:

There is a difference between someone who does woodworking for a hobby out of love of creating beautiful furniture and someone who thinks s/he thinks they can make money doing it.

[Jens Jensen]

I do not classify myself as a professional but I do as a hobbyist and yes I do charge for my services,I had a customer asked me when I was going to finish his media center and I told him you are not paying for speed your paying for quality and if it is speed you want  you had to mistake me for someone else that dont care about what he turns out.In the past year I have always been referred by past customers so this is a feather in my hat.

Thanks for my 2 cents worth

[justin waldron]

I have to agree with Jens and Jay on this one.  I take pride in everything that I make, I don't cut corners and I am certainly much more less expensive on my cabinetry that Merillat/Thomasville etc., I also only use the best products that I can get my hands on.  My cabinetry also gets a burnt stamp that says handmade by Justin Waldron, so my name goes on every product that I sell. 

[Steve]

With the new equipment I am getting, 12" miter saw and tabletop planer, I am hoping to improve the quality of my cabinets. I try to put quality in my cabinets even though I am using inexpensive wood.

[Ken Darga]

Steve,

What's the advantage of a 12'' miter saw?

You planning to do lots of framing projects?

I find that a 10'' miter slide saw is more suitable.  

The sliding feature is very advantageous.

[Jens Jensen]

I use a black marker   haha

Name , Date

justin waldron said:

I have to agree with Jens and Jay on this one.  I take pride in everything that I make, I don't cut corners and I am certainly much more less expensive on my cabinetry that Merillat/Thomasville etc., I also only use the best products that I can get my hands on.  My cabinetry also gets a burnt stamp that says handmade by Justin Waldron, so my name goes on every product that I sell. 

[David Dean]

Now that cant be right my grand father done wood work for over 65 years and I have seen people as far as New York just to buy furniture from him in W.V.A and now Im on year 45 and I love doing wood work but wood and glue and screws cost money and alote of time’s I have taken money out of my own pocket .And alote of these young couples that come to the shop are lucky if they have two dime’s to rub together but before they levee the shop they’ll have a dresser even poor folk deserver’s a nice pace of furniture.

Like my grand father said I build furniture my way ? After the wife and kids do there oh’s and ah’s

Put that thing in the corner and for get about it for next 20 years . And that is why people came back every time.

Steve said:

There is a difference between someone who does woodworking for a hobby out of love of creating beautiful furniture and someone who thinks s/he thinks they can make money doing it.

[Steve]

My first miter saw was a workmaster, 10 inch saw. I mean it's a good saw but since I use 8 inch wide shiplap in most of my work, I would make one cut, then turn the piece over to finish the cut. I have thought about a 10 inch slider, but the cheapest alternative was the Dewalt DW715 12 inch miter saw, only bevels to the left for $250. There are more expensive options out there. For the Kreg pocket hole system, I need perfect or near perfect 90 degree cuts, so the miter saw was a top priority. I have a Jet tabletop saw which I only use for ripping, the miter square that came with it is junk. I really need a new shop saw, a $600 item which I can't afford right now and the current saw does a satisfactory job on ripping shiplap and the whitewood 1x2 & 1x3 which I use. I have ordered a Dewalt DW734 tabletop planer which I want to use to create custom thickness in the stock I use, this opens the door for greater customization in my cabinetry. Sandy has delayed the delivery of the planer, but in the meantime, I have built a portable table for the planer and the portable table will provide a storage solution for my shop vacuum. As I have mentioned before, I do not use plywood  or MDF, the thought of using those materials makes me cringe in fear of the chemical poisons used to bind that stuff together. When I do use plywood, I cut the stuff with a circular saw. I set up guides so the plywood is held firmly in place and I cut along a guide edge to take the guesswork out of the task at hand.

Ken Darga said:

Steve,

What's the advantage of a 12'' miter saw?

You planning to do lots of framing projects?

I find that a 10'' miter slide saw is more suitable.  

The sliding feature is very advantageous.